College costs fail the test

Low scores for tuition affordability

DENNY SIMMONS / Courier &amp; Press
Talisha Petrie and her husband, Raymond, sign up for financial aid at Ivy Tech Community College on Monday afternoon. The newlyweds married Aug. 1, 2008, and are starting their college careers next semester. A recent independent study on higher education gave every state but California failing grades on college affordability.

Ivy Tech Community College financial aid clerk Zach Cullum, second from left, offers help to a potential student in the school's financial aid office Monday afternoon.

Area college officials said it's still possible to afford a college education in Indiana, despite a recent report giving the state an "F" on affordability.

But doing so without loans is becoming increasingly difficult as college tuitions have increased faster than family incomes.

<IF YOU GO>Annual tuition and fees for 2008-2009:

— Ivy Tech Community College — $3,000

— University of Southern Indiana — $5,079

— Indiana State University — $7,148

— Ball State University — $7,520

— Purdue University — $7,750

— Indiana University — $8,281

— University of Evansville — $25,130</IF YOU GO>

<IF YOU GO>A recent report rates higher education affordability.

Indiana

Affordability — F

— Poor and working-class families must devote 43 percent of their income, after financial aid, to pay costs of attending a public four-year college.

— State spends 84 cents for every dollar of Pell Grant aid to students

Kentucky

Affordability — F

— Poor and working-class families must devote 39 percent of their income, after financial aid, to pay costs of attending a public four-year college.

— State spends 48 cents for every dollar of Pell Grant aid to students.

Illinois

Affordability — F

— Poor and working-class families must devote 37 percent of their income, after financial aid, to pay costs of attending a public four-year college.

— State spends 82 cents for every dollar of Pell Grant aid to students.

Source: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education</IF YOU GO>

"Postsecondary education is going to include some kind of indebtedness. That is just the reality of the economic environment that we live in today," said Mary Harper, the University of Southern Indiana's director of financial assistance. Indiana was not alone in failing the report. The independent study on higher education gave every state but California failing grades on college affordability.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education noted that 74 percent of Indiana's college students attend either two- or four-year public community colleges and universities.

However, even after financial aid, the amount of family income needed to attend those public community colleges and universities in Indiana was as high or higher than the national average in 2008.

It cost families in Indiana 24 percent of their income to send a student to community college and 30 percent of their income to pay for a four-year college education in 2008, according to the report.

The national average was 24 percent for a two-year college education and 28 percent for four years.

The share of a family's income needed to send a student to a private college in Indiana was even higher, at 69 percent, according to the report.

State legislators consistently have increased funding for public higher education, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. But the overall share of state tax support for higher education has decreased in recent decades as the state's costs have gone up in other areas.

Higher education costs hit poor and working-class families especially hard, according to the report, with 43 percent of their income going to pay for attending a four-year public university after financial aid. Overall, 73 percent of students at the University of Southern Indiana, 75 percent at Ivy Tech Community College and 94 percent at the University of Evansville receive some type of financial assistance, according to those schools.

About 23 percent of USI students, 25 percent at UE and 29 percent at Ivy Tech received aid through Pell Grants. However, many often do not receive the full amount of the grant, which is currently $4,310 per year.

The result makes the need for loans almost impossible to avoid, officials at local colleges said.

The average yearly loan amount for undergraduate students in the state nearly has doubled from $2,860 in 2000 to $4,625 in 2008, according to the report.

As of 2004, almost two-thirds of students at public four-year colleges paid at least part of their costs through loans, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Harper said about 50 percent of USI students receive federal loans. The average federal loan debt on graduating from USI in 2007 was $19,242.

That number was even higher at the private University of Evansville, where school officials said about 60 percent of students have loans. The average federal student loan debt for four years of college at UE as of fall 2008 was $20,243, said JoAnn Laugel, UE financial aid director.

Officials at area colleges said they work closely with students to maximize financial aid and secure loans.

UE matches the amount of state aid received by students from low-income families eligible for the state's Twenty-first Century Scholars tuition assistance program.

"We match that so that they can also come here to the University of Evansville for free," said Tom Bear, UE vice president of enrollment.

Tuition and fees at UE this year are $25,130 and the average student receives about $18,000 in financial aid.

"What we don't want to do is turn anybody away," Bear said. The university also does not deduct any local scholarships or grants a student receives from any financial aid from the university, Bear said.

Harper said she believes USI is not only affordable for students but also competitive among Indiana's other public universities.

At $5,079, tuition and fees at USI are the lowest of Indiana's five public universities.

USI also offers a large number of merit-based scholarships and grants that are based on criteria such as test scores and grades, she said.

That is important, Harper said, because there are many middle-income students who don't meet the federal government's definition of financial need.

"Lower-income students can receive a tremendous amount of federal aid, but middle-income students who do not receive these grants, their main source is loans," Harper said.

At $3,000 a year, the cost of a two-year degree through Ivy Tech, transferable to Indiana's public four-year universities, is becoming increasingly attractive to many seeking an economical college education.

"We are seeing an increase in full-time students," said Alisha Aman, director of finance at Ivy Tech in Evansville.

More than 5,800 students attended classes full time there this fall.

"We always tell people see what you qualify for because we want to help them," Aman said.